I have mentally titled this the “Summer of Nothing.” This happened long ago, but I have maintained my stance . . . which is the unusual part in that I almost always end up planning a bunch of stuff at the last minute then wondering how it is that I’m not getting anything done. I did have things planned for this summer – play dates for the kids, time at the pool, lots of reading, time to be bored, and a few projects – but my real goals were to 1.) spend time with friends and 2.) get caught up on a few of the projects that have been sitting undone at our house. I have simplified everything – food prep, cleaning routines (still getting the house clean – just not as clean as usual maybe), piano lessons, sports, blogging, and most everything that I have figured out a way to simplify.

It has been good. The kids are fit and happy. We all feel connected. Our home is peaceful. Our schedule is not chaotic, and it’s been months since I’ve said, “Ok, we’re going to have to eat in a hurry, so we can dash out the door!”

There will be a season when we pick it all back up and hurry about, but today I’m so very, very thankful for:

516. teaching Dimples to tie a bow – unhurried

517. playing Dutch Blitz over and over . . . and over

518. reading with my kids – for fun

519. sorting out the mess on my desk

520. reading the pile of books that has been sitting at the end of my bed, waiting, for way too long

521. capitalizing on curiosity (We’ve been reading all about bats – not because we have to do “science,” rather because the kids WANTED to.)

522. learning new games

523. trying new recipes

524. enjoying slow the chores that are often burdensome hurried

525. watching every video that the shuttle crew has posted and savoring the lasts

526. standing for way to long after all the other parents left to watch my oldest sit atop a horse

I’m pretty sure that I’m maxed out this week . . . but I will be following along here:Will you come along too?

Every Compassion trip that I have followed has been an amazing story . . . no, amazing stories, but even better every Compassion trip that I have followed has changed me, made me want to be more of Jesus’ hands and feet to those in foreign lands and in my neighborhood, made me inspect my own priorities, made me long for the end of poverty, and made me aware of what I can do to change the world (and not just through Compassion, though I do firmly believe that is a great place to start)!

It was so much fun – all the baking and making . . . and truth be told my amazing-baker sister did help (yes, with her OWN shower!) The vanilla bean cake recipe was a new one for me, but it was wonderful – super moist and yummy! It was my first time using a real vanilla bean, and it was so fun . . . after I stopped being scared that I was going to do it wrong.

I got the lemonade cupcake recipe out of a Better Homes & Gardens Cupcake magazine that my mom bought before the shower; the glaze was simply juice from three organic lemons mixed with enough powdered sugar to make it thick but not so thick that I couldn’t spoon it over the cupcakes.

The triple chocolate cupcakes were a disaster! I made chocolate cake batter, added dark chocolate chips, then put them into special baking cups that don’t need a muffin pan. They were a little shorter, so the cakes turned out shorter. All went beautifully until I pulled them out of the oven and set them on the table to cool. There they pulled away from the edge of the cupcake papers and shriveled to these mini-puck-looking shapes. It was horrible! Eventually, we came up with the idea of pulling them out of their original cups, placing them into the white papers and using the ganache as planned. I think they turned out okay in the end, but I sure was sad about saying good-bye to my original vision!

While the taste of the lemonade cupcakes was my favorite flavor, the sugar cookies were my favorite thing to look at! I have been looking for a sturdy sugar cookie recipe for years and years; when I found this one, I also found an icing recipe that I like better than the typical royal icing! Talk about a score! This is the second time I’ve used these recipes, and I just love working with the dough and the icing. So. much. fun!

I spent a good deal of time last week baking (more on that tomorrow); it’s something I love to do! This week’s list comes from various adventures in my kitchen. And yes, I am concerned that so many of the things I am thankful for revolve around food and eating . . . but what’s a girl to do!

I am thankful for:

501. juice from organic lemons mixed with powdered sugar to make a glaze

502. the way egg whites whip up and stand tall

503. warm cream + dark chocolate = ganache

504. the feel of sugar cookie dough as I roll it out on my counter

505. icing that dries and allows me to transport sugar cookies easily

506. tiny vanilla beans with so much flavor

507. the many uses of that expensive vanilla bean

508. cream cheese icing

509. ingredients mixed into dough and placed into a pan . . . baked to yield English muffin bread

510. my red mixer

511. the bendy metal spatula that I inherited from my mother’s mother’s kitchen and is now my favorite way to spread icing

512. edible glitter

513. white gel food color – it’s cool!

514. cute cupcake wrappers

515. butter (I should maybe list this a few times, I am so thankful for it!)

This weekend Handsome took our oldest to riding lessons (riding horses, that is). When he got home, he told me that while sitting near the hay in the barn he realized that the smell of hay in the barn is one of the smells that just makes him feel “at home.” Later this weekend, I was making our guest bed, pulled out a quilt that was my grandma’s, and had that same feeling of being “at home.”

In this fast-paced, ever-changing, military-moving life of mine, I am grateful for the few things that do stay the same. Today, I am thankful for:

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Our Adoption Timeline

2.2 Find "our" kids (siblings) on Waiting Child List
2.5 Hear from agency that the kids are still available
2.8 In contact with homestudy agency
2.15 Still waiting on information about kiddos
2.22 Fingerprints for State & FBI Clearances done
2.24 Receive video of kids but no additional information
3.6 Home visit for homestudy
3.7 UPS passport renewals & I600A
3.15 Received fingerprint referral from USCIS
3.28 Fingerprints at USCIS
4.17 Got notice that the State Police are require a re-print -ug!
4.25 Reprinted 5.16 Notice that prints & therefore homestudy are complete 5.18 Dossier sent 6.20 initial 171H received 7.5 told by agency that we won't make it through court before closure 7.17 final 171H received!!! 8.30 Children moved to Agency's Care Center 9.21 Received medical info - all looks good! 11.1 Court Date Successful 11.14 Notified of Embassy Date (11.27) 11.23 Leave for Addis 11.26 Gotcha Day! 11.27 Embassy Appointment 12.1 Home---Except for the years of preparation, our adoption took almost exactly 10 months from identifying the children on a waiting list to getting them home!